While teaching assistants across the nation are rallying to unionize, TAs at Iowa State don’t plan to follow the trend.

Provost Rollin Richmond said graduate students at other universities have begun forming unions because they are not satisfied with the administrations.

“If graduate students feel the institution is not being fair with them, they often organize unions,” he said. “I’m in a position to hear of these things, and I have not sensed a great deal of interest [at Iowa State].”

Richmond said there is nationwide conflict about whether graduate students who work as TAs or research assistants should be treated as students or employees of the university.

“They have characteristics of both,” he said. “They are students pursuing their master’s or Ph.D., but are also employed by the university in teaching or research jobs.”

Richmond said he believes it is in the best interest of the TAs and research assistants not to pursue a union as long as the university treats them fairly.

“They enjoy the freedom they have now,” he said. “When involved in the academic world, an individual often does research on academia that takes them outside the designated work hours a union would establish.”

Unions are created by students so that they can negotiate with the state and regents, usually specifying working conditions such as hours, wages and benefits TAs and research assistants receive, Richmond said.

Brian Anderson, president of the Graduate Student Senate, said TAs and research assistants at Iowa State have no desire to form a union.

“Things are going very well right now,” said Anderson, research assistant in chemical engineering. “We don’t have everything we want, but we’re working on it.”

He said Interim President Richard Seagrave, James Bloedel, vice provost for research and advanced studies, and John Mayfield, associate dean of the Graduate College, working with them to meet their needs.

Anderson said he believes graduate students can accomplish more with university officials if they have a more amicable relationship.

“We don’t look at the administration as a threat to achieving our goals,” he said. “We both want quality graduate education, quality assistantships and quality health care. Unions generally form when people don’t feel they are making progress with the administration, so they create a body as equally powerful.”

He said it is not worth pursuing due to the people graduate students have had to work with.

“Individual problems are handled by the administration very quickly,” he said. “The English graduate students had a problem earlier this year, and Mayfield was quick to help them discover a solution. It was quickly resolved and lasted about a day. This is the same with any problem — they are effectively solved.”